Brock Bowers talks rookie season, adjusting to NFL on 'Bussin' With The Boys' podcast

Jul 17, 2025 at 04:27 PM

Levi Edwards

Digital Team Reporter

With the ups and downs that come throughout a NFL player's rookie season, Brock Bowers handled it as best as he could.

And at his best, he was arguably the best tight end in the league.

Heading into his second NFL season, the Raiders star tight end hopped on the "Bussin' With The Boys" podcast hosted by former NFL offensive lineman Taylor Lewan and former Raiders linebacker Will Compton. There was a lot to be discussed with Bowers coming off an historic rookie campaign.

The First-Team All-Pro selection led all NFL tight ends in receptions (112) and receiving yards (1,194) in 2024, which also broke the NFL records by a rookie tight end in each of those categories.

"I was trying the hardest not to think about it," Bowers said of playing through his record-breaking season. "But at the same time when you see everything [on the internet] and you're getting tagged in stuff and it's like, 'Oh man, he might break these records' and stuff. It's pretty crazy seeing all that and looking back on it, it's pretty cool."

The former Georgia sensation was shocked at getting drafted by the Raiders with the No. 13 pick. On the podcast he mentioned the Chargers, Jets and Bears as teams he initially believed would draft him. However considering his desire to play in warm weather and be close to his family in Napa, California, he feels it all worked out for the best.

"It's actually kind of funny, it's always like the team you least expect to pick you," Bowers said. "I didn't talk to them a ton, I talked to other teams a lot more and then all of a sudden I'm sitting there on draft night and I get a call. Me and my agent are talking and Las Vegas isn't even in the picture really. ... All of a sudden I get a call and it says Las Vegas, Nevada.

"I said, 'Should I pick this up?' and he said, 'Hell yeah pick it up!'"

From the moment Bowers got off the plane and arrived in Las Vegas, it was all ball.

He quickly realized he had to go full steam ahead in practices not to just live up to the expectations, but to earn a job in the NFL. While he described the initial doubts that came with transitioning to the next level, he used those doubts to "fuel me to get better."

"It's just way different," Bowers said of adjusting to the NFL. "In college I feel like the coaches are trying to push you so hard because they have to and then in the NFL they're kind of like, 'You either do it or you're going to get cut. We don't care that much, we can have your replacement here tomorrow.' It's kind of a different mindset out of the coaches and the players."

After the great success of his rookie season, the bar seems even higher going into this year's training camp.

Yet he continues to rely on his training more than anything else.

"I'm just really big into winning every single rep and like trying to do that in the offseason," he said. "During OTAs I'm trying to do that and just pisses me off when I don't do that. So, it just pushes me to get better in every single facet I think. Because I feel like there's not one thing I did great, but not one thing I did super duper bad. I'm just trying to elevate everything."

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